Star Wars child actor Jake Lloyd's mom gives rare health update on his rehab after he suffered a psychiatric break that led to schizophrenia diagnosis

Star Wars star Jake Lloyd's mother revealed that her son is now in a mental health facility, years after he was diagnosed with schizophrenia following his role in The Phantom Menace in 1999. 

'He didn't tell us he was hearing voices at the time. But he was. When they finally told him, it totally threw him off into an even worse depression,' his mother Lisa said in a new interview with Scripps News. 

Lloyd, now 35, said in a 2012 interview that the role he performed when he was 10 years old made his youth hellish because he was bullied by other children. His last acting credit was in 2005, according to IMDB.com.

Three years later, Lloyd was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and anosognosia, a condition that left him in denial about his original diagnosis. 

'He didn't tell us he was hearing voices at the time. But he was,' his mother said. Lisa went on to say that the condition runs on her son's father's side of the family and that it would have happened regardless of the backlash he suffered for appearing in the widely panned science fiction prequel.  

Jake Lloyd is seen with his mother Lisa and sister Madison, who died in 2018 at age 26

Lloyd gained worldwide fame for his role as Anakin Skywalker in the 1999 film

In 2015, he was sentenced to 10 months behind bars after he led sheriff's deputies in South Carolina on a high speed chase. 

In 2018, his sister, Madison, who was an extra in The Phantom Menace died in her sleep at 26. 'He just couldn't handle it. He didn't know how to process it,' Lisa said.

However things took a another dark turn in March 2023. 

 Lisa said that she was in a car with her son after picking up food at a McDonald's. 

'He said he wanted to turn the car off. And he turned the car off in the middle of the three lanes, and we were in the middle lane. There was a lot of yelling and screaming,' she said. 

'The police got there, and they asked Jake some questions. He was talking to them, but none of it made sense. It was all word salad,' Lisa said, adding that the next day, he began treatment. 

The Jingle All the Way star sought treatment as an outpatient as part of an 18 month program at a mental health hospital. According to his mother, Lloyd has eight months left and he's progressing well. 

'He is relating to people better and becoming a little bit more social, which is really nice,' Lisa said.  

Lloyd is seen in DMV photo (left) and booking shot (right) from his 2015 arrest in South Carolina. He spent 10 months in jail without posting bond before being transferred to a psychiatric institution with a schizophrenia diagnosis

When Lloyd was initially diagnosed, Lisa said that he wouldn't take medication or see a therapist because he didn't think that there was anything wrong with him. 

Contrary to speculation, Lisa also said that Lloyd remains a huge fan of the franchise. 

'He love all he new Star Wars stuff. People think Jake hates Star Wars. He loves it. Jake loved filming Star Wars. He had so much fun,' she said. 

For his most recent birthday, he received a gift of an Ahsoka action figure.  

Lisa described protecting her son from the backlash by forbidding from going online. 

'Everybody makes such a big deal about that. And it's rather annoying to me because Jake was a little kid when that came out, and he didn't really feel all that stuff because I didn't let him online.'

'He was just riding his bike outside, playing with his friends. He didn't know. He didn't care.' 

She said that her son's decision to leave acting was more to do with the stress of his parents' divorce and a general lack of enthusiasm. 

The Phantom Menace is being released in theaters in May to celebrate the movie's 25th anniversary.  

Lloyd was cast in the movie, one of the most eagerly anticipated of all time, at the age of six, after starring in the 1996 Christmas classic Jingle All The Way, opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger.

After Star Wars, however, his acting career virtually ended overnight. His last movie credit was a bit part in the 2001 sports drama Madison.

In a 2012 interview, Lloyd said that he had decided to quit acting due to cruel bullying at school, and he had destroyed all of his Star Wars memorabilia.

After moving from Hollywood to Chicago and studying film at Columbia College, Lloyd dropped out after just one semester.

Police were called to his mother's home in Indianapolis in March 2015 for an assault complaint. She said he had argued with her and struck her, but declined to press charges, saying he was mentally ill.